CNN reporter Larry Madowo has become an almost unwanted visitor in his own homeland after his numerous exposés of government incompetence failed to impress the powers-that-be.
Madowo, a thoroughbred journalist who started his media journey in Kenya before becoming a globally-renowned reporter, often times visits Kenya for work and private business – and, while at it, never fails to call out various government ministries over their ineptitude.
A certified documentalist, Madowo never fails to update his millions of followers on his current location, always starting off with announcing the city he was tweeting from and then rhetorically asking, ‘Africa’s greatest City?’
But within the X journals, is Madowo’s numerous encounters with shabby Kenyan infrastructure be it be on a vaunted Kenyan highway or even at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), from where he flies in and out frequently.
On Match 25, when heavy rains pounded the city, Madowo was in town to witness it all – sharing a video of himself stuck at the Nairobi Expressway as floods battered the walls and the road became a chaotic mass of raging waters.
“I forgot my boat for the Nairobi Expressway..” he captioned the tweet.
“We have been stuck in traffic on the expressway for about an hour to get to this point,” the CNN international correspondent could be heard saying in the video.
He added that the floodwaters had covered the wheels of the vehicle he was travelling in, showing the extent of the flooding.
“A small car could easily be swept away,” he added.
Less than a month later, Madowo took to his X account to lament the dilapidated state of the JKIA, sharing a video of himself arriving at the airport under a torrential rain, pulling his suitcase along, as he waded through running pools of water.
“Terminal to taxi when it’s raining at JKIA…” he captioned the video.
“What is this, honestly? How embarrassing for an international airport. We can do better than this, ” he rants.
Almost immediately, a section of dissatisfied Kenyans flocked his comment section telling him off for ’embarrassing the country’ and for constantly painting Kenya in a ‘bad light’.
Undeterred, Madowo doubled down on his criticism, writing, “Your leaders don’t experience this JKIA shame because they get picked up from the plane, to an exclusive government VIP section, and then straight into a waiting car. They don’t mix with the masses.”
“But I’ll keep posting until things improve…”
Amongst the unimpressed fellows was President William Ruto economic advisor David Ndii who told off Madowo, sarcastically reminding him of his previous affiliation with the capital city.
“Welcome to Africa”s greatest city @LarryMadowo. Feel at home….” Ndii said, attaching screenshots of Madowo’s past positive pronouncements about Nairobi.
Other Kenyans, probably hired propaganda bots, seemed to view Madowo’s complains as the entitlements of a privileged person only concerned with middle-class inconveniences.
Doctoroal researcher Dennis Otieno too joined the anti-Madowo crusade, writing; “I think this is more of elitism as @DavidNdii says sometimes. Look at what the people in the upper decks, like me and @LarryMadowo fight for: Airport shelters, superhighway drainage, visa free entries, world-class research funding, etc. We do this instinctively and with good intentions.”
“All this things are just expressions of elitism. We are a developing country, why would an airport shelter for “international visitors” be a priority in a country with people who are homeless and hungry? Just to avoid “embarrassment”, as you put it?”
Otieno went on to claim that Madowo was merely advocating for unimportant “cool stuff”, at the expense of “real issues” experienced by everyday Kenyans.
“Look, the biggest problem with us, the elites in the society, is that we are ignorant of the plights of the person in Karachuonyo and Kacheliba,” he added.
“We use our positions of influence to advocate for “cool stuff” that are important, but not a priority. Things that only serve to widen the gap in the society and make classism just more pronounced. And while at it, we project a victim vibe. No. we are not!”
Despite the negativity, multiple other Kenyans have continued to encourage Madowo to continue piling pressure on the government and use his vaunted position to continuously expose our national ills.
X user Mumbi Wathika said, “Mediocrity will be the end of this country, because why are people in the comment section complaining about Larry “embarrassing the country” instead of focusing on the issue at hand? Which is that our government needs to fix our infrastructure? Keep exposing the rot Larry!”
To wind up the conundrum, Madowo simply urged Kenyans to stop their delusion, saying “If your patriotism means staying silent when things go wrong, you’re deluded.”
